COVID-19 Data-Driven Spark Privacy and Abuse Fears
Privacy Worries From Tech Fighting COVID
"Mobile check-ins, temperature checks and other data-driven practices dominated coronavirus- fighting strategies in the early days of the pandemic. Even as a slew of vaccines and, more recently, pills, have transformed the fight against the virus, COVID-19 contact tracing apps remain a staple, resulting in the notification of thousands of COVID cases across the European Union, according to recent reports by the European Data Journalism Network.
As the use of data-driven practices continues and EU member states toy with the idea of nationwide biometric — which entails physical characteristics capable of identifying individuals — identification, users and privacy specialists alike have raised concerns regarding the privacy of the data collected by tracking apps, as well as their implications for the future of surveillance in Europe and around the world. . .“So, it's fair to say that information that is being collected by some governments for the purpose of combating COVID is sometimes being used for criminal investigative purposes that the user of an app, for example, can't control.”
> “We've also seen in some countries, like Singapore, the collection of location information for the purposes of combating COVID (being) made available…to law enforcement,” says Greg Nojeim, co-director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Security and Surveillance Project.
> In the European Union, such fears have become a reality.
Last week, German media outlet Deutsche Welle reported that authorities in a city near Frankfurt used data collected by Luca, a COVID contact tracing app, to contact potential witnesses to a death, provoking criticism from politicians to even the app’s developer, culture4life.
Similar concerns of overreach have been raised regarding Poland’s mandatory Kwarantanna Domowa (Home Quarantine) app, which depends on geolocation and facial recognition to “allow the authorities to monitor individual compliance with self isolation requirements,” according to an early report by the European Digital Rights (EDRi) Network. . .
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“The ‘innovation’ with our biometric data is moving so fast that we've seen regulators not being able to keep up,” says Ella Jakubowska, a policy and campaigns officer at EDRi.
Though biometric — which entails facial, vocal, fingerprint, and even behavioral recognition — and geolocating technologies predate the pandemic, specialists like Jakubowska say they believe that it has provided a window for the normalization of surveillance and biometric technologies. . ."
Sharp criticism of the Luca app after the police searched for witnesses
Politicians from the Greens and FDP are calling for the Luca app to be deleted from smartphones and demanding that the expiring contract with Culture4Life GmbH – the company behind the Luca app – not be extended. The state government of Baden-Württemberg wants to continue the cooperation.
Corona warning app – a good alternative
This was preceded by renewed concerns when the Mainz police had accessed data from users of the Luca app to find witnesses during an investigation. Daniel Karrais, the digital policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group in Baden-Württemberg, criticized the app’s data protection and security problems. Furthermore, the Baden-Württemberg health authorities would hardly use the data for contact tracing, and the catering industry would also largely do without.
“As far as the warning and the follow-up are concerned, the Luca app is dead,” said Alexander Salomon, network policy spokesman for the Green parliamentary group in the state parliament of Baden-Wuerttemberg. For the one-year use of the software until March, the country pays an amount of 3.7 million euros, said Karris. The official Corona Warning App (CWA) is a good alternative. For some time now, the CWA has also been offering a check-in function for events and catering.
“Uninstalls the #LucaApp. Immediately. And then immediately use the #coronawarnapp,” tweeted Salomon on Saturday, Karris agreed on Twitter.
Pirate party calls for the end of the contract
The Pirate Party of Rhineland-Palatinate is also demanding that the Luca app contract with the state not be extended for another year. The costs are in no relation to the previous benefit, in addition, the data collection would arouse desires on the part of the authorities, which are not compatible with the Basic Law and an understanding of the rule of law, it says in a message from the Pirate Party.
The current incident is only the latest “in a series of flops in connection with the Luca app,” the Pirate Party continues. “The trust in the Luca app was and is grossly negligent.” Warnings and notices from the party and corresponding notices from numerous organizations such as the CCC were vehemently brushed aside by the state government. The pirates’ recommendation is also CWA – with it, “a widespread, license-free, open and data protection-technically harmless alternative” is available. The Bundestag also recommends the CWA for tracking contacts."
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